Cons:

Over the last two decades (or since the release of "Return of the Jedi") there have been quite a few Star Wars video games. Actually, that's a bit of an understatement: with over 100 titles spread across just about every game system ever made, Star Wars is arguably the deepest series in gaming history. Part of the greatness of the franchise is that its content allows for a wide variety of games, from space flyers to fighters, first-person shooters to third-person actioners, and even an MMORPG. It's a bit surprising, then, that there hasn't been an official large-scale multiplayer shooter in the vein of Battlefield 1942. Sure, we've seen mods that feature stormtroopers and far, far away locales, but they've never been created by LucasArts. That's finally about to change, however, with the release of Star Wars Battlefront.

The basic premise of the game is simple: win your battles, then move on to the next one. You can win by either destroying all of your opponent's troops, or capturing all of the checkpoints set up across the huge maps. If you've never played games like the aforementioned Battlefield, the sheer size of the battles might be a bit overwhelming at first. Each side generally starts out with over 200 soldiers, and some of them will respawn after being killed, depending on the number of checkpoints the side occupies. In the single player game, all of your teammates and enemies will be bots, while there is a mix between bots and humans in the multiplayer games.

When you start a game, there are a number of options you have to choose from. First, you must decide what side you want to be on (except for in the single player mode, which we'll get into later). Since the battles are all taken from the five movies (as well as the upcoming Episode III), the combatants are pretty familiar. For instance, the Battle of Hoth allows you to be on either the side of the Empire, with their giant AT-AT walkers, or the Rebels, who are trying to protect their base and take down said behemoths. During some of the Clone War battles, on the other hand, the Empire and their stormtroopers are battling against the droid army.

Once you decide on a side, you've got to figure out what type of solider you'd like to be. While there are some variations, most of the choices fall into a few general categories. Standard troops are equipped with blaster rifles and grenades, heavy-duty soldiers have rocket launchers and and mines, snipers have (surprise!) long-range sniper rifles and recon droids that can be used to find hidden enemies from afar. Finally, there are the pilots, who usually have a weak weapon that can gradually be charged up. Why would you choose a pilot, you ask? Well, pilots can not only fix damaged vehicles, they also act like medics, dispensing health and (in some cases) ammo to their teammates. In some ways, the play balancing could have used a bit more work. I found that the snipers really didn't come in very handy, as the control was a little off and the projectiles were too slow, while the pilots' weak weapons let them get killed before they could help anyone.